Aug. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Basilea Pharmaceutica, an antibiotic
producer with a market value exceeding $1.1 billion, is open to
being bought by a U.S. company seeking a Swiss location to
reduce taxes, said Chief Executive Officer Ronald Scott.

“A Swiss company and a Swiss holding lends itself to these
transactions,” Scott said in a telephone interview today,
declining to reveal whether Basel-based Basilea has received any
approaches. “We are open to structures that create value for
our shareholders and also create the most value for our
assets.”

Basilea is preparing to introduce its first product, the
antibiotic Zevtera, in Germany during the second half of this
year and in other European countries in 2015, under an agreement
with Quintiles Transnational Holdings Inc. The company may not
be profitable until 2016, Scott said.

At least two U.S. drugmakers this year have pursued deals
that would let them reduce taxes by moving their legal
addresses. AbbVie Inc. agreed to buy Shire Plc for $55 billion
and said the combined company’s tax domicile will be in the U.K.
London-based AstraZeneca spurned a $117 billion offer from
Pfizer Inc. President Barack Obama has said that U.S. companies
seeking such deals to circumvent taxes are “unpatriotic” and
the Treasury Department has said it’s reviewing a range of
options to discourage them.

“People are a little cautious about what that might
mean,” Scott said. “Certainly these megamergers will come
under political scrutiny. Maybe the smaller ones can still take
place.”

Confirmed Forecast

Basilea share rose as much as 6.4 percent, the biggest
intraday jump since May 13. The stock was up 5.1 percent at
100.8 Swiss francs as of 12:38 p.m. in Zurich, paring the
stock’s decline to 4.4 percent this year and giving the company
a market value of 1.05 billion francs ($1.16 billion).

Basilea confirmed its forecast today for operating expenses
in 2014 of 8 million francs to 9 million francs on average each
month. It also predicted an operating loss of 4 million francs
to 5 million francs on average each month.